TELEVISION

Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality

Series: Great Courses
4.3
(78)
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Episodes
24
Rating
TVPG
Year
2017
Language
English
Publisher
The Great Courses

About

Taught by noted physicist Dr. Don Lincoln of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, this course follows the search for a theory that explains all physical reality-a theory of everything. Dr. Lincoln covers recent developments in particle physics and cosmology, plus the background needed to appreciate the centuries-long search for this holy grail of science. Only high-school-level math is used.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1 to 3 of 24

1. Two Prototype Theories Of Everything

30m

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Embark with Dr. Lincoln on a search for a theory of everything - a simple and comprehensive explanation for all physical phenomena in the universe. Confront the incompatibility of our two best prototypes: the standard model of particle physics and the general theory of relativity.

2. The Union Of Electricity And Magnetism

30m

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Learn how two seemingly separate phenomena, electricity and magnetism, were shown by James Clerk Maxwell in the 1860s to be aspects of a single underlying force, demonstrating how unification works in physics. Then see how Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism make a remarkable prediction.

3. Particles And Waves: The Quantum World

30m

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Follow one of the strangest turns in modern science: the discovery of the paradoxical world of light, which spawned the theory of quantum mechanics. Discover how light and matter behave as both particles and waves, and look at evidence for this curious feature of the quantum world.

4. Einstein Unifies Space, Time, And Light

30m

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Trace the reasoning that led Einstein to his special theory of relativity, proposed in 1905. Address common misconceptions about this startling new view of time and space, which led to ideas such as mass-energy equivalence, the impossibility of faster-than-light travel, and the space-time continuum.

5. Relativistic Quantum Fields And Feynman

30m

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Take a deeper step into the quantum world, observing how the theory of quantum electrodynamics, or QED, unites quantum mechanics with special relativity. Discover that the handy sketches of subatomic behavior called Feynman diagrams (named after physicist Richard Feynman) are really equations in disguise.

6. Neutrinos Violating Parity And The Weak Force

30m

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Study the weak nuclear force, which is responsible for beta decay: the emission of an electron from a nucleus during radioactive decay. Discover that much more is going on, including weird transformations that pose a challenge to a theory of everything.

Extended Details

  • Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

Don Lincolnwriter
The Great Coursesproducer
Don Lincolnactor